What are referred to as automatic equipping units are utilized for fast equipping of printed circuit boards with electrical components. Time-savings in various processing procedures that are desired in this area have led to what is referred to as the SMD technique (surface mounted device). Automatic equipping units that usually work based on the "pick-and-place" method are offered by various manufacturers for the equipping of printed circuit boards, and such units are already very advantageous and compact. In operation, components are individually picked up, centered and positioned, and are individually put in place onto the printed circuit board. Such an operation is executed for each and every individual component.
Other devices that are commercially available already comprise a multiple head that picks components up individually in a sequence and respectively individually places them at a location on the printed circuit board. This requires that the printed circuit board be positioned for every component.
A further apparatus of the prior art functions such that a plurality of components can be picked up but are individually placed on the printed circuit board. The printed circuit board is individually positioned in one planar coordinate direction for every component part, whereas the alignment with respect to the second planar coordinate direction is carried out by the carrier of the component.
These known automatic equipping units, and their appertaining methods require extremely long times due to the conveying paths from a delivery unit to the printed circuit board and back again for every component. The utilization of multiple heads likewise involves no significant time-saving since the printed circuit board must be moved and positioned for the placement of each and every component. Further, the advantages of a multiple head are not completely exploited, since the component parts are picked up in sequences and, thus, a defined sequence must always be observed.